The search to find more survivors and help the injured has intensified as the death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 6, 2023 passed 5,000.
The toll is likely to climb further as freezing weather and multiple aftershocks are hurting the rescue efforts, despite international assistance. Rescue teams spent the whole night searching for people trapped under the rubble.
Turkey’s Vice President, Fuat Oktay disclosed that the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed to 5,021, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border.
Oktay divulged that about 3,294 search and rescue teams from 14 countries have arrived so far to join in the efforts. The teams were being transferred to the worst-hit provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman, he added.
Around 380,000 survivors were currently being sheltered in government dormitories or hotels, the Vice President said.
Oktay said the country had made “serious headway” in providing cranes to the quake-stricken areas to assist the rescue efforts, adding that more than 500 heavy equipment were sent.
Armenia’s Foreign Minister, Ararat Mirzoyan announced that his country has offered to help Syria and Turkey in their response to the deadly quake, despite difficult relations between Yerevan and Ankara.
Mirzoyan recalled that Armenia experienced a devastating earthquake itself in 1988 and required international assistance at the time.
Greece, which also has strained ties with neighbor Turkey, sent a team of rescuers and aid equipment Monday, and promised to provide more.
“I believe I speak for all my colleagues in the Greek parliament in expressing my deepest sorrow for the many victims of the very powerful earthquakes that have been hitting Turkey since yesterday morning.”
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Lawmakers applauded when he announced that additional assistance was being prepared.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the U.N. health agency is sending three chartered flights of medical supplies, including surgical trauma kits, to both Turkey and Syria from its logistics hub in Dubai.
Ghebreyesus told the WHO’s executive board that “we’re especially concerned about areas where we do not yet have information.” He added that “damage mapping is ongoing to understand where we need to focus our attention.”
“The scale of this disaster is going to require a sustained response and the secondary impacts of this disaster are going to also going to go on for months and months, especially for those people already affected, already vulnerable for many other reasons in the region, and especially in Syria.”
WHO Emergencies Chief, Dr. Mike Ryan
UNESCO Undertakes Preliminary Survey Of Damage To Heritage Sites
The United Nations’ cultural agency disclosed that it has undertaken a preliminary survey of damage to heritage sites in the earthquake-hit areas, with an aim to help rapidly secure and stabilize them.
UNESCO is “particularly concerned about the situation in the ancient city of Aleppo” in Syria, which is on the list of endangered World Heritage.
“Significant damage has been noted in the citadel. The western tower of the old city wall has collapsed and several buildings in the souks have been weakened,” the statement said.
In Turkey, UNESCO announced that it was saddened by the news of the collapse of several buildings at the Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens, a World Heritage site which goes back to ancient Greek and Roman times.
U.S, EU Urged To Lift Sanctions On Syria
The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, has urged the United States and the European Union to lift years-old sanctions imposed on Syria, saying that the country is in bad need for help following the earthquake.
“I call on for the lifting of sanctions on Syria. This is the most important thing for us,” Hboubati stated at a news conference in Damascus, highlighting the need for construction machinery for the rescue effort.
Sanctions by the United States, the European Union and some Arab countries have been in place since 2011, after President Bashar Assad’s government cracked down on protests against his rule.
READ ALSO: Turkey Earthquake: Death Toll Rises To More Than 2300
